Shattering Stories
by flamanipulator
Summary: Embry imprints on a four year old boy. NOT GAY/SLASH, ANYTHING LIKE THAT! The boy is quite the character growing up, giving Embry quite a bit to worry about, especially when he discovers something dark. Please read, give it a chance. Embry POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, here is the latest story that just struck me today. I know that I have stopped updating TUCO, but no one reviews that one, and so I've gotten tired of working on it. I'm going to skip to the last chapter of that one the next time I load it up, and that will be the end. **

**For now, hopefully more people will read this story and like it.**

**Summary: Embry imprints on a four year old boy. NOT GAY/SLASH, ANYTHING LIKE THAT!!! This how I think that this could play out if a wolf imprinted on another guy. It will go through the boy's life, until the end, which I already have planned out.**

**Shattering Stories**

**Chapter 1**

**I Did What on Him?!**

**Embry POV**

The trees streaked past me as I ran, keeping my nose in the air for any new scents. Ever since the conflict with the Italian vamps three years ago, nomads or small covens were almost constantly in the area. My nose was almost constantly burning with the scents that we all needed to familiarize ourselves with, as many of the vampires remained in the area for long periods of time. Amazingly, there had been no deaths within the La Push-Forks area, undoubtedly because they all knew that if the pack did not get to them first, for killing people on our turf, then the Cullens would destroy them before they were done feeding.

_Yeah, I guess it's a good thing that there are so many of us, huh Embry?_ Seth spoke into my head, addressing my thoughts on the reason that there had been no deaths. _I mean, between the four of us in Jake's pack, the eight left in Collin's pack, and the eight Cullens, there is practically no where in the Washington peninsula that a vampire could feed unnoticed!_

Leah had left for Seattle, while Jared, Paul, and Sam had all stopped phasing; all three only months after the Volturi had left. Sam had put Collin in charge of his pack, with Brady as the Beta. All of the new recruits that had popped into our heads the month before the Volturi came were now old enough to not need babysitting.

I approached the edge of the woods opposite mine and Quil's house and phased, pulling on my shorts quickly. As I came to our driveway, I noticed this little kid, probably around four years old, slowly walking on the side-walk. He was wearing tan shorts, and a red t-shirt which revealed a series of small bruises on his upper arms. He was looking around like someone was going to jump him, his arms were both clutched tightly around his body, and his head was whipping from side to side every few steps; I couldn't see his face, as he was in desperate need of a haircut, or at least a proper combing.

I walked over to him slowly, so as not to scare him too badly, and crouched down a few feet away. "Hey, little guy, what's wrong?" I asked him softly. My attempts to keep him calm did not work at all, as he jumped up and nearly broke his nose trying to grab hold of a telephone pole. "Hey, chill dude, I won't hurt you." I held my hands up and stayed where I was, helping him to feel a little safer. I could hear him crying, his face mashed up into the pole in his frozen terror.

"Can you tell me your name, little dude?" I asked, just loud enough for him to hear me without needing to get closer. He turned his head the slightest inch towards me and muttered something that anyone without werewolf hearing would have missed entirely. "Adam." His tiny voice whispered into the pole, almost escaping my ears. "Adam," I said quietly, still trying to be nice and patient, "What are you doing out here all alone? Where are your parents?"

He turned his head towards me to answer, his hair sticking to the pole to reveal his face. My stomach dropped suddenly, like I had just been on a rollercoaster, and I could feel my eyes glazing over as I receded into my own consciousness. I felt as though gravity were being kicked into overdrive as a heavier weight than I was accustomed to settled over me, cementing me to this earth forever. Only one coherent thought ran through my head, but it was enough to pull out the stopper, opening the floodgate. _What is this?_ The memories of others imprinting came flooding into my mind, but they were all different than what was happening to me at the moment. All of the others had felt gravity entirely snapping away, not building in strength until it felt like it could crush you. _No, this is definitely not imprinting. What is it then?_

I snapped back to reality as I heard Adam's tiny voice telling me the answers to my questions, which I had forgotten entirely about. "-said that I need a haircut and…then she…I leaved…And then I gotsted…lost." His tiny little voice mumbled as his hand left the telephone pole to curl up at his teeth, the standard sad-little-kid look. I chuckled at the fact that he needed a haircut; it was such a typical little-kid thing to hate. "You know, Adam, you shouldn't have left your house. It can be dangerous out here, without an adult." I warned him gently, not knowing why I cared so much.

"Let's take you back to your house, okay?" I said much more lightly, holding my hand out in invitation. I stayed in the same spot however, letting him choose to come to me instead. _I've got candy._ I suddenly thought, realizing what this would look like to anyone who saw it; it looked like I was kidnapping the boy.

His small hand slid into my massive one, disappearing in my grasp, and brought me back to reality again. "Do you want to walk, or should I carry you? I'll be able to get you home faster if I can carry you." I said, looking down at his sad, tear-filled eyes. He nodded and lifted his arms, which I took as permission to pick him up. I stood up as I lifted him, and he whimpered slightly at the height. "It's okay, I've got you." I said gently as I started walking, his legs on either side of my ribs while my right arm supported his back.

I felt his tiny fingers clutch at the bare skin of my shoulder, as I retraced his scent, grasping for something to hold onto. "You want to hold my other hand?" I asked as I lifted my left arm up to my shoulder; his fingers immediately grabbed my hand, and it felt as though he was squeezing them for all he was worth.

_Holy cow, this kid made it pretty far!_ I thought as I walked up the driveway to his house, fifteen minutes later. It was a pretty typical house, dark cream sides, dark slate roofing, boring bark borders on the grass and…why was I noticing all of this stuff? I took a breath and found another trail of his scent, going the other direction from where we had just come from. _I wonder if he came here first, but then decided not to go in, for some reason?_

I set him down and knocked on the door. He was still wringing my hand with all his might as we waited and I wondered why he was so scared; he was home, and he was going to be back with his parents after probably an hour of wandering all alone.

The door swung open to reveal possibly the most repulsive man I had ever seen. _Man, he's fat._ Was the first thing to come to my mind, followed by the wife-beater that he was wearing which rode half-way up his stomach. He needed to shave badly, his unkempt beard looking more like the hedges than the hedges out front themselves did. He was wearing his boxer shorts, which did nothing to hide the rolls of fat that made up his legs. _Do I really want to release Adam to this guy?_ I thought just before the…creature…in front of me began to talk.

"What are you doing with Adam? He was with his mother an hour ago, getting his haircut!" His scraggly beard matched his voice, which gave me the impression that you could start a friction fire just having him talk to the wood. _Definitely a smoker…_ I thought as I saw his nicotine-stained teeth, and the smell of cigarette smoke wafted out of the house.

"I was taking a walk, and I saw Adam walking around on the side-walk, looking terrified. I managed to get him to tell-"

"I don't care what you _were_ doing; I want to know what you _are _doing. Why is he with you, not his mother?" He cut me off in mid-sentence, interrupting the answer to the question that he cut me off with. I felt Adam move slightly, shuffling so that my arm was hiding most of his body. "I found him lost, nowhere near his mother. He told me that she did something to him, so he ran off. I found him about fifteen minutes ago, just wandering the street." I let my voice gain a hard edge, hopefully encouraging him to keep quiet while I was talking.

"Now, I didn't _do_ anything, except for walk him back here. Now, clearly he is scared about something, and he chose to go wandering instead of coming back home after running from his mother." I told him rudely, inviting a question of why he did not want to be home.

"How would you know that?" He practically snarled at me, his voice making anything he said sound like a growl. _Well, I can do a better growl than that._ I thought, preparing to let out a growl that would make his socks curl. I then remembered Adam still clutching my hand, hiding behind my arm, and kept my growl silent. Instead, I answered his question, "He told me. He said that he hadn't wanted to go home, so he just kept walking. Now, what would be so bad that a four-year old kid walks home from the barber shop up in Forks, and then decides to keep walking instead of coming home?"

I could feel myself beginning to shake, my imagination bringing up scenes of abuse and torment. Adam's tiny hands squeezing my fingers as hard as they could and burying his face in my forearm halted all of my shaking.

"What am I, psychic?" He yelled sarcastically, before starting on his own little tirade. "I don't know what goes on in the head of a four-year old brat! He probably didn't want to be grounded for walking home without his mother! If I were you, I would leave right now, and leave this whole mess alone! Adam, get in the house. And you, go tinker with cars, or something! And put a shirt on for crying out loud, have you no decency?!" I nearly laughed at that part, his body required a bed sheet covering more than mine needed a shirt, but I was getting more and more angry at this despicable creature with every word out of his rotting hole of a mouth.

Adam cringed further into me at his…Father's-it hurt to call this man Adam's father-demand to go inside. _Alright, I need to pull in the big guns. This family clearly has some issues that need to be sorted out with the law._ I pulled out my cell phone from my shorts and dialed Jacob's number. "Hello?" The voice on the other line asked.

"Hey, Jake, it's Embry. Listen, I need you to call Edward and Chief Swan, and tell them both to come down to…42 East Main Street." I told him the address after looking up at the number on the house, and the street sign at the end of the road. "Just go straight from the main Forks-La Push road, and then take the third left after you cross the boundary line. I'll be standing out front. Make sure that Charlie brings all of his gear and stuff." I said into the phone, hanging up at Jacob's agreement, saying that they would be there within twenty minutes.

"What are you doing, boy?" Adam's father asked, his pudgy eyes –_I didn't even know it was possible to have fat eyes_-squinting at me, making them look even fatter. "I don't think that this is an appropriate home for Adam to be in." I replied coldly, daring him to contradict me. "I just called my friend, who is calling the Chief of Police down here, along with his own personal polygraph tester, just so you don't lie. They'll be here in twenty minutes, or so." I stated, staring straight into the slits that remained of his eyes; they had continued to shrink from the intensity of his squint as I spoke.

We stood in absolute silence for over fifteen minutes, the only time the silence was broken were the few times that Adam's dad tried to make him go into the house. Adam merely cringed further into my side, still holding my fingers in a death-grip.

I turned to look at the police cruiser with Charlie driving, Edward sitting in the passenger seat, and Bella in the back. _Why'd you bring her, Ed?_ I asked him silently, quirking my eyebrow. He ignored me, his eyes immediately shooting to Adam. "Embry, what happened? He's absolutely terrified!"

"Who do you think you are, calling the police over to my house with no proof of anything whatsoever?" the fat man roared at me, attempting to intimidate me. I just turned to look back at him, flexing every muscle in my upper body; he shrank away pretty quickly. Adam was staring at Edward with his now-constant look of terror, his body reacting to its instincts of danger.

Charlie interrupted our little spat by addressing Adam's dad, "So, Sir, tell me what has happened?"

"Well, Officer, this hooligan came over to my house, pounding on my door, holding my son in his nasty hands, saying that my son had run away! When I tried to take Adam back, this boy was withholding him from me, saying that this was an unfit home! He had no basis whatsoever to claim that! I demand that you-"

"He has bruises on his arms, and is clearly terrified to take a single step into that house!" I shouted back, only moving my head so as not to scare Adam any more with violent movements. Edward was whispering quietly into Charlie's ear, undoubtedly telling the Chief exactly what had happened. I listened intently, and began to tremble again as Edward whispered, "He's planning on beating Adam, very badly, the minute he cannot see the cruiser after we leave. He believes that there is nothing to base a claim on here, and so assumes that we will leave quickly."

I felt an icy hand on my shoulder, which startled me enough to stop my shaking. "Calm down, Embry. Phasing here won't do any good." Bella told me gently, taking her hand off my shoulder to crouch in front of Adam. "Hello there, Adam. My name is Bella. Will you talk to me about why you left your mom at the store?" Her crystal-clear voice sang softly in his ear, causing the grip on my hand to relax slightly, but he still buried his face into my arm. "You can think about it, it's okay." She whispered into his ear, causing him to shiver at the cold.

I made sure that Adam was as comfortable as possible, his squishing into my stomach instead of my forearm. Edward's eyebrows closed together in anger as his head whipped towards Adam's father, at the boy's thoughts. He whispered briefly into Charlie's ear, who turned his head back towards the grotesque man. "Are you aware that your wife beats your child with a sting rod? Your son is saying that she keeps it in her pocket, and whenever she beats him, she keeps it hidden in her palm, and then presses on his arm. The sting rod then snaps another rod out against his arm, causing a welt and quite intense pain."

His eyebrows were raised, showing surprise at this knowledge, but Edward was shaking his head. "He's already lying, and he hasn't even said anything. He not only knew about it, he was the one who suggested it." The man's mouth dropped open at that claim, his gravelly voice stuttering over his shock at Edward's accuracy. "Sir, I would like to come inside and search the house. If I find anything concrete that would show an unfit home, I will be taking your son with me." Charlie strode past the stunned man, leaving Bella and I alone with Adam.

Bella began talking to me in a very low voice, so that a human would not hear her if she was right next to them; "So, what is your connection to Adam? You seem to care about him a lot, but his dad seems to think that you've never met him before. Care to explain?" I thought over what she had said, trying to find an answer, but nothing came up. _Why _do_ I care so much?_

"How about you start by explaining what happened when you met him today?" She said quietly, gently stroking Adam's hair. "Well, I come out of the woods, see him crying, feel like helping him, and then he looks at me. Time kind of froze for a minute, and it felt like gravity was pushing down on me, keeping me immobile. Then, he was pulling me along. I can only describe it as a weight lifter pulling along a semi-truck, with no resistance to the pull. I was just, being pulled along by him while gravity was crushing me, making me subject to whatever would help him." I stared ahead and thought about what had happened.

"I think you're right, Bella." Edward called from the house in a normal voice, too quiet for the still stunned man in front of us to hear. "Embry…" Bella said gently before stopping. She stood up from Adam to stare into my eyes as she said, "Embry, I think that you imprinted on Adam."

**Alright, so that's the first chapter. I have decided that I will not update the next chapter until I get at least 5 reviews for this chapter. How this is going to work for this story is, that for this first chapter, I would like anyone who reads it to review. Give me some input on what you thought, what you would change, what you would like to happen, etc. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM IS EXTREMELY WELCOME!!! In future chapters (assuming I get enough reviews) I will set a review limit for the next chapter to come out. I don't care what the review says, as long as I get one to let me know that people are actually reading it. I've noticed that people who hold chapters for ransom (knock on wood) get more people to read their stories, so I'm trying it. I've already had 20 readers, but only 4 have reviewed. Please review, even if you didn't like it. let me know what you did/didn't like, so I can try to fix it up a bit. 5 reviews, people!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, so here is the next chapter. Thank you to the people who reviewed, and sorry that it took so long to get out.**

**Chapter 2**

**Did You Hear What he Just Said?**

I could not speak. I stood there, frozen, trying to think something even remotely resembling words. My mouth decided to express my confusion without consulting my brain. "W-wha…eguh…bu…blah?!" Very intelligent, Embry.

Bella snickered slightly at my pitiful non-attempts at speaking and said, "Embry, I don't think even Edward could understand that. Now, Embry, breathe deeply, and then speak." I inhaled the biggest breath of my life at her command and held it for several seconds while I let my brain slow down.

Once again, my mouth moved before my brain: "I can't have imprinted! That would be sick and wrong and gross and creepy and all sorts of other words I can't think of! It's bad enough that Qui-mmph!" Bella's hand had launched at me and covered my mouth. I realized that I had been yelling, and that it was sure to attract the attention of the pig-man that had gone into the house mere seconds ago.

"You need to keep it down, Embry." Bella hissed nearly silently. "If you yell again, I'll knock you unconscious and drag you to Emily's house until you can speak properly." She let go of my mouth at that, and I rubbed my jaw. I would never admit it to anyone, but that hurt. _Man, whoever coined the phrase 'you hit like a girl' wasn't all that bright. And she didn't even hit me!_

I heard Edward's loud laugh from right behind the corner of the hallway, coming outside with Charlie. Adam's father was nowhere in sight. "We need to go to Emily's anyways, Bella. They really need to discuss this as a pack. As for Adam, he is coming with us."

"We found a Meth lab in the basement, and I am pretty sure that that counts as unfit parenting." Charlie spoke up for the first time since entering the house. _Wow. A Meth lab in La Push. Who would have thought? _He then bent down to speak to Adam, lowering his voice to a loud whisper, and said "Adam, do you have any relatives that we should know about, or anywhere that you could stay for a long time?"

"Uh, Charlie, shouldn't we talk about this particular thing later? I mean, his father is getting arrested within an hour or so, and his mother abuses him. Do we really need to ask about relatives right now?" Adam had buried his face even farther into my side, if that was possible, and had started trembling. I picked him up as I had spoken, and began rubbing his tiny back as he shuddered and cried into my shoulder. "Okay, but we do need to discuss that soon, to figure out where he is going to stay from now on. As for now, Edward says that you need to go talk to Emily about him?"

"Yeah, Edward and Bella think that I imprinted on-"

"Need to know, Embry. Don't tell me if I don't need to know." He said, holding up his hand to stop me. "Well, Charlie, you may need to know eventually. If they are right, then you will definitely want to know about it." I said, thinking ahead to any possibilities. The list was endless, as this had never happened before. I had absolutely no clue what to expect; I was even worse off than Quil was when he imprinted!

Charlie left the four of us so that we could go to Emily and Sam's house alone. We made our way there, and had arrived within three short minutes of quick jogging. I had been very careful not to jostle Adam at all, so that he could feel more comfortable. "Sam!" I called out as we entered the house, Bella and Edward following.

Emily came around the corner already speaking, "Hello, Embry, what brings you-why do you have a four year old on your shoulder?" She interrupted herself as she came into view and saw Adam.

"That's kind of what we need to talk to Sam about. And Jacob, as well, and preferably all of the elders. Do you know where he is?" I asked shyly, still terrified that I really had imprinted on Adam. I held back a shudder as I noticed Adam's deep, slow breaths. _Oh great, now I need to keep my voice down 'cause he's asleep._ I thought, but not roughly. I could never think rudely about Adam…_Oh crap. I did imprint._ _Please let this just be some phase, or other!_

"Yes, he's out patrolling. I'm certain that if you get Jake, you can all have a meeting. Or you can just have a bonfire sometime, so that you can discuss with the elders as well." Emily suggested calmly, not questioning anything. She had learned to always expect funky stuff to happen with werewolves. "Shape-shifters." Edward corrected, earning a growl from me.

As we left the house, Edward pulled out his phone and called for Jake; they had made him get a cell phone so that they could get into contact with any of the wolves, should they need to. "Hey, Jake, Embry needs you to phase, and get into contact with Sam."

"_Why does Embry need to talk to Sam?"_ I could hear Jake's voice on the other line, so I decided to listen into the conversation. "Something happened, and he needs to talk to everyone, Jake. Just get Sam, and tell everyone to meet at the beach tomorrow night. We need all of the elders there too; they will be _very_ interested in what happened."

"_Edward, what happened? Why do we need everyone, and why will the elders be so excited?"_ Jake was freaking out nearly as badly as I had been. I was too preoccupied holding Adam and making sure he was comfortable in his sleep. "You'll find out with everyone else, Jake, unless Embry decides to shift before then. I'll see you later, Jake."

Edward hung up abruptly and turned to face me, his look one of concern and something close to disgust. "I assume you're going to let Adam stay with you tonight?" He asked, his nose wrinkling for some reason…_EW! How could you even think that Leech?_ I screamed in my head as I realized what he was assuming could happen. _For one thing, he's FOUR YEARS OLD! That would be illegal with a girl! Second, I'M NOT GAY! That is the most perverted, disgusting thing I have ever seen you even come close to thinking about!_ I could feel myself starting to shake as my tirade went on, but I was too wound up with Edward's little implication.

A tiny little fist grabbed my hair, and my shaking ceased immediately. Adam was resettling himself in a more comfortable position, and I froze while he did so. I made sure to keep my arms in the position that would keep him as he was now until he shifted again. _Shifting…_

"I don't know Embry, I doubt it. And my apologies for my thoughts earlier, it's just with you imprinting on him and-"

"I did not imprint on him. Even if I had however, he is still four years old! Did you ever see Quil getting cozy with Claire when she was four? Heck, she's almost seven now, and he still doesn't-"

"Okay! You're right. I'm sorry." Bella had remained silent through this whole exchange, so when she spoke up, it startled me a bit. "Edward, why would you think that Embry will try to…" her figure shuddered in the quickly waning light to express the disgusting nature of her thoughts. "Try to…ugh. I can't even say it! Edward, why would you even assume that he would try to molest the kid?" She spit it out almost too fast to hear, causing me to strain to catch all of the words. My hackles rose as the thoughts were voice aloud, but I repressed a shiver to keep from waking Adam.

"I don't know, Bella. This sort of defies the normal laws of imprinting; you can't really assume anything is still in play." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. It made me mad.

"Edward, even if I did imprint, which I didn't! Do you really think that four year old boys would be my type? You're sick, man. I'm going home, don't follow me." I walked off as quickly as I could while still keeping the motion smooth for Adam.

I made it back home after about ten minutes of walking, three times the normal amount it took to walk from Emily's house. _Stupid necessity to be smooth._ I thought as I made my way to the bedroom in the house I shared with Quil. My room was the cleanest, so at least the bed was clear of debris. I pulled back the covers and gently set Adam down, pulling the covers back up to his chest. His little fists immediately clenched on the sheets when I pulled my hands away, and he curled up into a small ball. I left after a few minutes of waiting for him to cry out, or whimper, but he remained silent.

I stepped back out into the hallway and made my way back to the sofa. I had been sitting there watching TV for about an hour or two, when Quil came in through the door. He sniffed loudly and grunted before voicing his thoughts. "Dude, why do you smell like Edward and Bella, and what is that third less disgusting smell? It smells like another person, and it's still really strong, so they're still here…did you imprint?!" He nearly shouted, his eyes lighting up in happiness for me. Too bad I had to crush that joy back down. "No. I didn't imprint, Quil. I found a kid, and he's staying in my room until Charlie…finds another place for him."

I stumbled over those last words, feeling like something was crushing me down against the ground as I said them. It was as though gravity would smash me into dust if I let Adam leave. _Dude, what is up with my head?!_ I thought-screamed. "Em, what's up? You look like you're screaming at yourself in your head again." _Oh great, now the Care bear knows that something's up._ I thought bitterly, turning my head to face him. "You'll find out tomorrow. We're all having a big bonfire, and the Cullens are coming to help discuss something strange that happened today. Sorry, that's all the info you're getting tonight." I said, cutting off any questions that were coming.

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow then, I'm gonna crash for the night." He said, leaving for his room. I remained on the couch, watching TV, until I eventually fell into a restless, dream-filled sleep.

xXx

The bonfire crackled in the fading light as everyone talked quietly. Adam, the reason for the congregation, was sitting utterly still on my knee, arms wrapped tightly around his torso; almost like he knew that this meeting would decide his fate. "Hey, Adam, are you okay bud?" I asked, nudging him gently. He nodded weakly, but did not say anything in response.

"He's completely terrified." Edward said, coming out from behind Brady. "He knows that something bad happened, and that he won't see his parents on good terms, most likely ever again. He also knows that whatever we're going to talk about here will decide where he spends what he deems to be the rest of his life."

"Edward, I can't just let him go to some random orphanage!" I nearly yelled, barely keeping my voice at talking level; Adam shifted uncomfortably, letting me know I hadn't succeeded. "Sorry." I muttered in his ear. "Embry, if worse comes to worst, we will make sure that he is kept somewhere comfortable and warm. Based on what everyone is thinking though, we won't even have to resort to him leaving La Push. The law, on the other hand, can be brought over to our side with a big enough bribe." He said this last part disdainfully, his dislike for bribery bleeding through easily.

"Alright, everyone, we've got something extremely important to talk about." Sam's loud voice rang out over all of the soft chatter, causing it to cease immediately. "Now, something has happened that no one can explain, and there is nothing in the legends about it."

"If it's werewolf business, why are the Cullens here?" Brady called out, not in distaste for the Cullens. "It's because," Sam replied, "We are way out of our league here, and we think that with all of their experience and what-not, they can help us figure this out."

"Well, what is 'it'?" Collin asked, getting impatient from all the seemingly pointless chatter. Sam looked at me, and I nodded, giving him permission to spill the beans about Adam. "Embry found a little boy, and…we think that…he…well…imprinted."

Dead silence rang out through the night, broken only by the crackling of the fire; not even breathing could be heard. Sam broke the silence, using it to his advantage to not have to war with other voices. "Now, we're not here to argue about whether he imprinted or not, but we're here to talk about what to do with the boy, and how it could affect the pack. Since he is Embry's…imprint…he will have the ultimate say, unless there is a unanimous vote against what he wants.

"We need to decide where the boy will live, since his parents are both being convicted of child abuse." My chest felt like a heavy weight had settled over it at the prospect that Adam would have to leave. I vowed right then that it would not come to that; I would make sure of it.

"Now, last night Adam stayed with Embry and Quil, but I doubt that this arrangement can last forever. Because of the typical…imprinting bond…" Sam still stumbled over the fact that I had imprinted on a boy, "we're not sure how…Embry's feelings…towards Adam will change in the future."

I was getting mad. Here they were assuming, yet again, that I was going to go gay, and try to molest Adam. _That's just wrong!_ I screamed silently, making sure to keep my shaking to a low vibration. Adam still felt it though, and he slid backwards to bury his face in my chest, pulling his arms in close. My shaking stopped pretty quickly after that.

"Sam," Edward spoke up, turning his head from looking at me; he had obviously just heard my mental tirade. "I don't think that we need to worry about anything remotely romantic, just yet. As far as I can tell, Embry is feeling much like Quil did with Claire at this age. Of course, the living arrangement can change as necessary in the future, but as of now…" Edward trailed off, hearing from everyone that it was not needed for him to continue.

I let out a sigh of relief, seeing all of the faces turned down, thinking about this. I could tell that they weren't going to force Adam away from me, at least not yet. _No, not ever._ I thought rebelliously. In the future, I was going to make sure that he stayed safe, and he would never leave, unless he wanted to. _Oh crap, I really did imprint._

I broke away from the bonfire to take Adam home. He had fallen asleep halfway through the discussion, and I did not want him to wake up again; he was dead tired from all of the stress he had been going through lately. Once I got home, I tucked him into bed and made my way back to the couch. My head had barely hit the cushion when I slid into darkness.

**Okay, I'm an idiot. I started this story a VERY short time before I have these massive exams, so I will not be writing for quite a while. I do plan on continuing this story, but it won't be for at least another month. I want 10 reviews this time around, since it will be quite a while. I really am stupid for starting this so close to my exams, and my apologies for making the people who've read so far wait.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, screw the review ransom, I like updating this story. I'll just post as they are finished, and I know that I said it would be at least a month, forget that. I got bored, so I wrote. This is kind of a filler chapter, but it leads up to some important stuff in the future. I hope that everyone likes this chapter, **

**Chapter 3**

**Nice Kid You Have There**

**Adam POV**

_Hello, Journal. I am Adam, and I am 8 years old! I just got you for my birthday almost a week ago from Embry. Embry is my best friend in the whole wide world! He takes care of me and always has, except when I was really small but then my parents were mean. Embry rescued me! Bye Journal, I promise to write in you again really soon!_

I had just finished writing in my new journal when Embry walked into the room to take me to lunch. He really was my favorite person ever, he always got me stuff, and he always played with me when my friends couldn't. "You ready to go, kiddo?" He asked me, holding out my jacket and his other hand for me to take. I quickly put on my jacket before grabbing his hand and running out the door, dragging him behind me.

**Embry POV**

_Man, this kid's a handful!_ I thought as he tried to pull me out to my car; I let him of course, letting him think that he was so strong. This had been going on for two years now, ever since he decided that he wanted to grow up big, like me; he would always show his strength off by pulling me everywhere.

Emily and her role in his life popped into my head as I reminisced. The first year that Adam was living with me, she had been overly concerned about every little detail: Was he eating enough, did he have enough clothes? What about school, could I afford to keep him around? After her basically living at _my house_ for a year –yeah, I bought my own place two months after Adam came –she finally decided that I was worthy of keeping him without supervision.

The minute I was settled in my seat in the car, Adam began screaming for me to hurry and drive. "Stop screaming, or I'll go even slower." I threatened with a smile; he shut up pretty quick. His hands slapped to his mouth while his eyes widened in mock-terror. "Oh no, not even slower!" He whispered, and then rolled his eyes. Kid after my own heart, he is already using sarcasm. He did keep quiet though, taking my threat seriously.

We quickly pulled into the parking lot of McDonald's, Adam's favorite 'restaurant'. "Alright, Adam, go and save us a seat while I order the food. Chicken nuggets and Sprite, right?" He smiled at the typical rhyme that I always made with his food, nodded, and then ran off to grab a seat. My eyes followed him to the booth, and brushed across an ordinary-looking man, whose eyes were following Adam just as intently. _I had better keep my eyes on him…_ I thought ominously, turning back to order.

**Adam POV**

I jumped into the booth, bouncing hard enough to almost smack my head on the wall. I pushed away with my hands though, stopping myself getting hurt. I heard a small clink when I landed, and felt in my pockets; empty. _Oh no, my moneys!_ I screamed silently. The quar-ter and pen-ny that Embry had given me had just fallen onto the floor during my bouncing!

I jumped out of the booth to grab them, sliding back out into the aisle. I bumped into something hard, and turned around to see a very tall man with short hair and a weird smile looking down at me. My muscles tensed as I felt my stomach flip over, the usual feeling that I got when something was wrong. "H-hi. I'm Adam." I said nervously, hoping that by being friendly, the man would leave me alone.

"Hello, Adam. Do you want to take a walk with me? I'll get you some ice cream." He said quietly, his smile really creeping me out. "No thank you. I need to eat lunch first." I said politely, not taking my eyes off of his hands. That is what saved me when he suddenly lashed out.

I ducked as his hand swiped right where my head had been, and exploded from my knees right towards him. My head crashed into something really soft, but then hit something really hard on the other side of it. The man's breath rushed out as his hands replaced my head on the spot. I jumped right back up after falling, running over to the man's head. He had started getting up, but I did not want him to grab me again. I swung my foot back and kicked the side of his head, right by his ear, and he crashed onto the ground. I had started running and screaming before his head landed.

**Embry POV**

A high-pitched boy-scream tore me from waiting for the food to arrive. My head swiveled faster than any human head was capable of, my eyes attacking the spot Adam was sitting. I caught sight of Adam running towards me, the creepy man I had seen before laying on the ground, his hands nestled between his legs in unconsciousness. Adam lunged towards me once he was close enough, grabbing my outstretched arm with practice. I pulled my arm up quickly, the momentum allowing him to swing around and crash onto my shoulders.

"What happened, Adam? Why is that man in pain?" I asked, already guessing based on the look I had seen him giving Adam before. "Embry, Embry! That man tried to grab me, but I tackled him with my head and kicked him really hard, and then ran! Embry, my head hurts; I hit something really soft, but then my head hit something really hard right after that, and then the man fell over. The hard thing really hurt!" Adam was close to tears from fear and pain, rubbing the top of his head quickly. _He must have crashed into the guy's pelvis after knocking him a good one._ I thought humorously, the humor being thrown away as Adam's slightly shaky breath brought me back.

"Are you okay though, Adam? Did he hurt you, or just try to grab you?" I asked, rolling my head back onto his leg so that I could look up at him. "Just my head hurts. He didn't touch me at all, I ran too fast." He had a small smile now, proud from bringing down an adult. "Why did he want me to go and get ice cream with him, and why did he try to grab me, Embry?" His face had melted back into a frown as these questions popped into his head.

I turned to the cashier, who was staring at us, before answering. "Call the police, that man back there just tried to kidnap my son." I said harshly, before looking back up to answer Adam.

"Sometimes, Adam, old people want to take little kids. It's really creepy, and they get sent to jail for it.

"So, you bombed him pretty good, huh?" I asked, smiling to take the seriousness out of the conversation. It worked, his smile relighting his face. "Yeah, I did what you taught me: I watched his hands so that he couldn't grab me, and then ducked and jumped at him, hitting right between his knees with my head, just like you told me to! Then I kicked his head really hard, so that he would not try to grab me again, also like you said." His little face turned back into a frown, but not a sad one, before he looked at me confusedly again. "Embry, why did that hurt him so much? I thought that grown-ups were supposed to be really tough, like you? I don't want to grow up big and strong if I am wimpy like that guy!" I laughed at the irony of the situation, smiling up at him while I answered. "Adam, that spot really hurts boys, especially adults. That is why I told you to hit bad guys there, not anywhere else. You'll find out why it hurts so much in a few years."

"Sir, the police are on their way. Please accept our deepest apologies; we'll give you the meals for free." The cashier had just returned from talking with her manager, who was scared that I would sue him. I laughed inwardly and accepted the food she offered us, moving to sit down.

****

Nearly a week had passed since Adam was almost kidnapped, and we were driving back to the house from school. Adam was staring silently ahead, his eye brows pulled down in deep contemplation. I waited for him to speak, knowing that he would, but it was nearly ten minutes before he did say something.

"Embry, can you teach me more stuff that will keep me safe, if I'm by myself?" His eye brows were still pulled down, meaning that he was still thinking about what he was trying to say. "Sure, kiddo. Can I ask why you want to learn more stuff?"

"Well, today we had 'story time' in school, where we had to tell about something cool that happened this week. I told about when I almost got kid…kid-napped." He stumbled over the newer word before continuing with his thoughts. "I was really lucky, Embry. What would have happened if that man had been faster? What if he had stopped my head before I hit him?"

I was about to tell him that I would have saved him before the man got too far, but he started again before I could say anything. "Pretend that you were…gone; I was alone. How would I get saved? Could you teach me how to save myself?" His eyes had turned pleading, knowing that I would say yes to that face.

"Sure thing, Adam. Just know though, that I would never leave you somewhere that you could get hurt."

"I know, Embry, just in case." Man, this kid was smart. He could already take out a full grown man, but he was figuring out that quick reflexes would not be enough to handle a smart person.

****

Adam had gone to his room after our little training session, to rest his sore muscles. The kid had real guts and endurance, to be so committed to what he wanted. It seemed to me like he wanted to train so that there was no chance that he would ever be taken from me, but that could have just been my ego talking; heaven knows it's big enough!

Sam was waiting in the living room, sitting on my couch, for me to come back with our drinks. He wanted to talk to me, again, about my relationship with Adam, and the possible reasons that I imprinted on him. "I don't know, Sam. Nothing new has come up between us, besides him kicking some guys butt for trying to kidnap him last week. He asked me to help him get tougher today, so I did. That's the only advance our 'relationship' has had in the last few years. He still trusts me implicitly, but that's all a part of imprinting, no?" I had had at least ten talks like this in the last three years, so I already knew all of the questions that would come out. This next one was no different than I had been asked in the past.

"Embry, are you sure that you're not gay? I mean, there has never been a gay werewolf, so no one would know if that would affect imprinting. According to what we know, there is no other logical explanation for-"

"Sam," I interrupted. I had been asked if I was secretly gay more than any other question in my life. "Sam, since when has any of this werewolf stuff had a 'logical explanation'? And besides, you've been in my head, and you're in Jake's. You would know if I was gay. I mean, I've seen all of you naked more times than I can count! No offense Sam, I'm sure that Emily appreciates it and all, but you guys just don't do anything for me." I shrugged as I got up to get some water, my throat very dry suddenly.

The power flickered briefly, causing me to look up at the lights. "Hey, Sam, go and check out the fuse box. There is no storm, so the power shouldn't be having issues." I told him, filling my cup with water. I took one sip and spit it out, tasting the rotten-eggs that had no business being in any water supply.

"No problem, Embry." He replied, feeling chastened once again for having been told off. It always made me smile when he felt guilty about asking me if I was gay.

I was pouring myself a Coke when the power went off completely, followed by a loud scream a few seconds later, from Adam's room.

**Adam POV**

_Ouch. Hi journal, I'm writing again. Ow. It hurts to write. Why does getting ready to be kidnapped have to hurt everything? I mean, sure it might hurt when I'm really GETTING kidnapped, but shouldn't training for it be a little easier? I'm just happy Embry was helping me instead of one of the other big guys he hangs out with. My arms hurt, and my legs hurt, and my feet hurt, and my tummy muscles hurt, and my neck hurts, and my head hurts, and my fingers hurt. Everything hurts! Well, I guess if getting hurt a little bit helps me get tougher and not get stealed away from Embry, I can live with it. I would miss him if I got taken. I think that he would get his white friends to help find me though. He talks about them meanly most of the time, but whenever Edward, the 'mind-reader' and his wife, Bella, come over, I can tell that he likes them. They are really cold, but they are both very nice to me. I found this little black book the other day, and its very weird. It has a small star, surrounded by two circles with funny writing, on the front, and it has really funny words on the inside of it. I can't read them very well because they are all really big. Here are two of the bigger words that I can't say. OMNIPOTENTUS and EXPULSUM. I don't think that they are in English. I asked Embry to look at the book, but he said that it was empty, and that maybe I can use it as another journal once I'm done writing in you. Once I get him to teach me about the computer, I'm going to look up those words to see what they mean._

I closed my journal and set it in my closet, taking out the little black book that was the size of my hand. I opened it to a random page and looked at the words at the top, trying to sound them out. "Vo-co d-une en-ver-to. What does that mean?" I wondered quietly. I kept reading quietly to myself, trying to find something that made sense in the words. I found a section of really small words that were hard to read. "Vo-co Ver-del-et ut sus-ci-pi-o sci-en-ti-a de vo-co mag-is val-i-dus ev-er-to." I rubbed my eyes from trying to read the tiny words, not making any sense of them at all. I did know that 'Verdelet' was a name of something, because it had a big 'V' as the first letter.

The words became blocky and very easy to see after the tiny letters, and I could break them into their sounds very easily. I slowly spoke the words, doing my best to get the sounds right. I came to the end of the page and said the last word more loudly, because it was bigger than all of the rest.

The lights began to flash on and off, and my room became very hot suddenly. I yelped as the lights went off completely, leaving me all alone in the darkness. I had closed my eyes, but I felt something soft and feathery, like smoke, brush my arm, so I slowly opened my eyes…

…And screamed as I stared at two glowing red eyes right in front of my face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so, here is the next chapter, on the same day! woohoo! Well, it might be a little confusing, what with all of the Latin, but I give the english translation so...yeah. If anything gets dropped or confusing, be sure to tell me so I can either make it clearer, or fix it, or whatever.**

**Chapter 4**

**His Blood Did What?**

**Adam POV**

_So, today was a very interesting day for me, it was my twelfth birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ME! Embry took me all the way out to Seattle to a really awesome restaurant called Texas Roadhouse. It was the best place I've ever eaten! I got a big 10oz. steak with a side of baked sweet potato with caramel sauce and marsh-mellows! I swear, if I never go there again __I will us my book to__ -scribble scribble -I will kill someone!_

_Before we went out to dinner though, he took me out to the port, and we rented wave runners! It was so awesome, and he taught me how to do a doughnut! He purposely threw me off in a demonstration though, so it's a good thing I am a really good swimmer! Embry made sure that I knew how to swim the first time that he took me cliff diving two years ago._

_After the wave runners, we went way out to the deep part of the forest and he let me ride on him while he ran really fast as a wolf! That was probably one of the best parts of the day, the running. Ever since he told me about that part of his life when I was nine, we've never gone that fast before; it was the best!_

_I wonder if anyone will ever read this journal. I sort of hope not, because that would make writing about secret stuff a lot safer. I don't want anyone to ever find out about my other book. I scribble the words out whenever I slip, but it doesn't make them unreadable; anyone who tries can see what I didn't want read. __Maybe there is a spell__ -scribble scribble -crap, I did it again! Okay, I'm done writing for now. I am going to get myself into trouble!_

I closed my hard-cover book and slipped it into my closet, above the black book with the pentagram on the cover. I had looked up the symbol the day that Embry taught me to use the internet, and discovered that it has several different meanings. _Currently, it is the main symbol for Wiccans, but in the older times, it was reference to magick craft and Satanism_. Based on how old it was, I assumed it was for the latter two.

I walked out of my room, putting on my jacket, and headed towards the front door. "Hey, Em, I'm going out for a walk. I just want a drink, and then I'll be back and we can do whatever."

"No problem kid. Don't get hurt, I'll have to kill you." He replied with a smile, turning back to the TV. Embry had been training me physically for years now, and I could easily take down any adult that wasn't using a gun. I closed the door behind me and started jogging, getting in some of the exercise that I had missed while up in Seattle.

A small rustle in the woods caused me to stop running, holding my slightly heavy breath. "Well, if it isn't Embry's boy." A soft, smooth voice from behind me caused me to spin around rapidly, giving myself whiplash. My eyes focused on the luminescent skin and deep red eyes, only dimly lit by the street lamps. "I owe Embry a favor, so you'll make a pretty good snack as a 'thank-you' for killing my mate." The female vampire suddenly flashed towards me and before I could focus again, I was flying through the woods, sideways.

_Gunmen and vampires . The only things I need to worry about, and Embry doesn't teach me to fight them! Good thing I've got my own arsenal._ My arms were still free, the vampire knowing that they would be worthless. Picturing the pentagram in my mind, I drew it in the air, starting from the bottom-left corner. The instant the pentagram was drawn, the lines lingering in the air for my eyes only, I slapped my hand on the nearest part of the vampire.

I cried "Subsisto!" as the vampire was blasted through the air, sending me flying. The second the 'o' left my lips, I paused in mid air. Angling myself so that my feet would hit the ground, I released the small spell, falling to earth. I would not get very much time until that vampire returned, and she would definitely kill me this time. "Causa meus cruor ustulo, paralyze , quod attero!" I uttered, running my hands quickly over my body._ I'm not going down without a fight._

I had just finished the spell that would hopefully save my life when the cold-woman reappeared in the clearing. "So, the rumors are true: You do have some knowledge that can help you out. Well, sorry to break it to you kid, but your little spells won't do you any good here." I stuck my arm up in protection as she burst forward to bite me. Her teeth sank into my arm, nearly breaking it in half, and my blood leaked rapidly into her mouth.

Her bloodcurdling scream was all that was needed for me to start on my second spell. "EGO voco everto Litobora ut tribuo mihi suffragium." I turned to look at her briefly, noting how she clutched her throat which was bathed in a dim light from within. The vampire had fallen to her knees as her body convulsed. "EGO redimio vos Litobora , ut meus mos , obtempero meus to order insquequo vos es privatus." Fire crept into her mouth as I uttered the second line of the summoning, noting how her body was now shining as though lit by the sun. "Penetro , audio quod fungor!" I said the final line forcefully as the fire exploded from within her, destroying the leftover body of the vampire that had tried to kill me.

The night became warm as I fell to my knees, the fire already spreading through my own body. I clutched my arm against my chest as I thought about the translation of my commands, waiting for the demon to arrive. _Litobora, remove the venom from my veins. You will obey my command._ The smoke had barely brushed past me, solidifying into a shapeless mass with glowing red eyes when I began to speak. "Litobora , aufero venom ex meus vena. Vos mos pareo meus to order." The stupid demon needed me to speak in Latin for it to understand, taking up some of my precious time.

"EGO mos iuguolo vos quondam EGO sum privatus." _I will kill you once I am released._ I thought quickly through what it had said, making an offer for it not to kill me. "Pro vos ut non iuguolo mihi , EGO mos tribuo vos ten annus off of meus rectus vita span." _I will give you ten years off of my natural life span._ It was a short time in the life ahead of me, it would not be missed. "Lam , vigoratus mihi quod genitus!" _Now, heal me and be gone!_

A dark hand stretched towards me, gently resting on my arm. I felt ice spread through my veins, chasing the venom that the vampire had injected through its bite. It was as though a war were raging inside of me, the demon's power versus the vampire's venom. Thankfully, the demon won, the fire sliding from me right behind the ice.

My vision became cloudy as the demon took his offering of ten years, causing me to slide into darkness as he slipped back into the night.

****

**Embry POV**

Nearly an hour had passed before I left to follow Adam's scent trail. _What, did he go up to Port Angeles on foot? It shouldn't be taking him this long._ My 'Adam senses' were tingling like crazy, telling me that something really was wrong. I began jogging quickly along the path he had taken, freezing and nearly shifting when the stinging scent of vampire entered my nostrils. _I'm going to kill it!_ I screamed silently as I lunged into the forest after them, barely holding myself together.

I arrived at a small gap between the trees, smelling a new scent besides vampire and Adam. _Sulfur?_ I wondered briefly, but stopped caring at the sight before me. Adam laid face-down in the dirt, a wound on his arm bleeding slowly, but steadily. I crashed to the ground next to him, pulling him quickly into my arms. I could smell the vampire all over him, but not in him, which confused me. I whipped out my cell phone as I began running back to the house, dialing as fast as I could with no hands.

"Edward, get Carlisle down here now. Adam has been attacked by a vampire, but I can't smell any venom in him. I need Carlisle to check him out, make sure that nothing is wrong."

"Okay, Embry, we're on our way. Bella and I will check out the site of the attack while Carlisle checks on Adam. Is he okay, right now? No pain, burning, etc.?" Edward asked concernedly, the engine of his car revving in the background. "Yeah, he's okay, I think. He's unconscious, so I can't know for sure. Hurry and get here!" I shouted, snapping shut my phone.

I arrived back at the house in a quarter of the time it took me to get to Adam, setting him gently on the couch while I ran to get some water and cold compresses.

The door opened to reveal Carlisle, a mere ten minutes after I had called; they must have been doing at least 150mph the whole way! "Hey doc, thanks for makin' a house call." I said tiredly, my worry for Adam overpowering any lingering dislike of vampires, regardless of who they were.

"Embry, I heard that he was bitten by a vampire, is that correct?" He asked, doing a full run-over of Adam. "Yeah, I think so. The smell was all over him, and his arm is all bloody, with bite marks, but there isn't any smell of vampire in him."

"Embry, I'm going to need to taste some of his blood, merely because I don't have any equipment here. Okay? Don't worry, I won't even touch him with my mouth." He could tell that I was absolutely against this idea, so he pulled out the big guns. "Embry, it might help me get him better. I can smell something strange in him, but I can't tell what it is without further help."

I sighed in defeat, turning my head away as he wiped his finger across the still-bleeding wound on Adam's arm. He put the bloody finger in his mouth, immediately wincing in distaste; that made me feel a little better. "That is…very strange." Okay, never mind the feeling better part.

"Doc, what's strange? What is up with Adam, and why isn't he waking up?" I could hear my voice rising in panic, but I couldn't find it in myself to care. Adam was hurt, and he wasn't waking up. He had been bitten by a vampire, and there was something non-vampiric in his blood. _I think it's a little bit okay that I'm freaking out here!_ I thought to myself sarcastically, even though Edward was nowhere near. "Embry, Adam has small traces of sulfur in his blood."

My head jacked up to look at the vampire at those words. _Sulfur?_ I thought confusedly, not understanding the implications. "And that means…?" I asked slowly, not really sure that I wanted the answer. "Embry, it's a substance usually found near volcanoes, never found in rainy, cold places like Forks. It is a very small amount, which is why we could not smell it very well, but it is there.

"I am more worried about how it got there than what it will do. This small amount of sulfur will have no affect on Adam's life, at all. Wait…" Carlisle said, trailing and staring through the window. I waited like he told me, trying to think of something. Carlisle's sudden movement startled me then, making me jump slightly. He had pulled out bandages and sterile ointment to fix up Adam's wound. He then took a flashlight and opened his eyes, checking for a concussion.

"It seems to me that he is merely exhausted, although I cannot tell from what. His vitals are fine, no concussion, and not enough blood-loss to be worried about." I breathed out a quick sigh, but stopped it when Edward's voice rang out from outside. "Carlisle, you should come and check this out." His voice was uncertain, worried about something.

**Carlisle POV**

I dashed outside to be near my son, leaving Embry to watch over Adam. "What is it, Edward?" I asked, thinking quickly over all that I had discovered. "Sulfur?" he asked, his eyebrows drawing together in thought. _Edward?_ I asked, wondering at his behavior. "Follow us, Carlisle. It might help.

We ran for a few minutes through the woods, arriving at an area saturated in three scents: vampire, Adam, and a small portion of sulfur. "What does it mean?" I wondered, taking in all of the samples of sulfur resting around the clearing. _Not a lot, but still…It should not even be here!_

"Carlisle, the sulfur isn't what has me worried. What do you make of this?" Edward pulled my attention towards a sprinkling of ash on the ground, indicating that something had burned. I could not see any stones or burnt grass indicating such a thing had happened, however. "Something is very wrong here…" I muttered, taking in the atmosphere of the area. "It feels darker here, like something has changed, but only in this area."

"Carlisle, if you notice, it is somewhat warmer here, than in the rest of La Push. Even setting a vampire on fire here would not have had any residual heat that lasted this long." Bella spoke up for the first time, bringing up a very good point. "Bella, I have no idea what happened here, but I can assure you, it was nothing natural."

**Adam POV**

It was dark. Very dark. My entire left arm felt numb from where I had been bitten, but that was all. I could barely make out sounds in the distance, but it was too dark to try to see where they were coming from. A light heat rested on my forehead, which helped to make the sound a little louder, for some reason; I could tell that it was someone talking now. The feather touch on my head moved back and began stroking my hair, like a light wind blowing past me.

"Wa-p. Mon…am. Ke-up!" The voice started to form words, and I could tell that it was Embry talking. I struggled to hear what he was saying, focusing on the touch that was growing somewhat heavier on my head. "Adam…up, Adam."

My eyes were heavy, as though I had ten-ton weights resting on them. I struggled through the weight, managing to crack my eyes open a little. I saw Embry's concerned face looking down at me, one hand stroking my hair while his other held mine. I noticed that his eyes looked slightly shiny; he was almost crying! I almost laughed at that, but I couldn't find the energy to do so. I made do with, "Kay, Emma. Nuff of a chick-flick…moment for ya?" I barely forced the words out of my mouth, but it was totally worth it when I saw Embry's gaze jerk up and start glowing.

"Adam! You're awake! Dude, what happened?" He crowed excitedly. _How long have I been out?_ I wondered, worried about why he was so anxious. "How…long have I…been out?" I managed, closing my eyes briefly again. "Just a few hours, but man! I found you face-down in the dirt with a vampire bite in your arm, surrounded by vampire stink! Are you okay? What happened? How did you manage to get out? Dude, I will kill you if you ever do that again!" I did not want to tell him about the book. I would not tell him about that no matter what; he would be really disappointed in what I was learning.

"I don't know, Em. The lady grabbed me and ran, but about half a mile in, or so, she was hurled away by something. She came running back to…bite me, but then she got hurled away again before…she could suck anything out. Then it got really…dark, and then I woke up here." I settled for an extremely watery version of the truth, leaving out any of the details of how or why.

I hated lying to him, it tore up my stomach to do so, but telling him the truth would be so much worse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, this one's quite a bit shorter than normal, but this topic was really hard for me to approach properly. I don't know if I did well at all, so many reviews would be highly appreciated.**

**Chapter 5**

**Awkward Much?**

**Embry POV**

Adam had been acting really weird, for the past week. He was avoiding talking to me for more than a few words at a time, and it was really starting to scare me. He had started his junior year of high school just under a month ago, so maybe he was just stressed; he shouldn't be stressed though. I had found junior year to be relatively easy, and Adam was way smarter than I ever was.

Or maybe it was me. Had I done something wrong? Did I do something to make him clam up? Was he getting tired of living with me? Oh please…Not that. Anything but that. _I'll do anything, as long as he doesn't leave._ I thought, my thoughts breaking into my physique. I could feel my eyes pricking, the gravity of the imprint bond smashing down on me for not fulfilling my duty as an imprinter to make everything work.

I heard the front door slam shut, signaling Adam's arrival from school. _Alright, I need to talk to him. Find out what is going on in his head, try to fix it. I have to fix it!_ I thought, messing my face into a light scowl, my typical look of determination. I walked into the kitchen, where I found Adam leaning against the counter on his elbows, head resting in his hands.

I walked silently over to him and place my hand on his shoulder and asking, "Adam?" He freaked out, jumping a good four feet away, landing in the most defensive stance I had ever taught him; crouching low, hands raised towards his face in fists, dancing on the balls of his feet. He straightened out quickly, exhaling, but he did not relax at all.

"Hey, Adam, are you okay? Oh who am I kidding, of course you aren't. Can you give me a clue? A hint? Something?" I had moved closer to him, my hands in the most harmless positions by my side possible, as I spoke, hoping to get a reaction.

The reaction I had been expecting was thrown out the window when he moved towards me. He grabbed my shoulder quickly and pulled his face up to mine, pressing our lips together. He pulled away less than two seconds later while I stood frozen, staring down at him. I saw his eyes flicker in confusion, not meeting mine, but it never really registered. He walked quickly out of the room while I sat there, still not moving at all, not even breathing.

I sucked in a breath when I began to tilt sideways, my muscles giving out from lack of oxygen. As I straightened myself out, the only thing I could make myself think was, _Well, that was awkward._

**Adam POV**

I grabbed Embry's shoulder quickly, pulling myself up to his level. _Here goes nothing. _I thought as I moved, pressing my lips against his. I rested there for less than two heartbeats; I would know; I could feel it pounding in my chest, before pulling away. I thought over what had just happened, how it had felt. _It felt weird, wrong. So much for what Chris said._ I thought, leaving a stunned Embry to go to my room.

I crashed onto my bed, pulling out my journal from under my pillow. I kept it under there now, since I wrote in it so often. Clicking out my pen, I began to write:

_Well, that plan was a total bust; nothing! I felt absolutely nothing, except for weird. I think that Embry was more scared about it than I was though; I have had all week to plan it out; figure out the best way to try it. Didn't exactly go as planned though. _

I was half-way through writing what exactly had happened when there was a very quiet, timid knock at my door. I froze, not expecting Embry to have come to talk so soon. I was still feeling completely numb though, so I just said, "Come on in, Em."

He slowly opened the door, creeping in silently. He turned to walk towards me, his cheeks flushed and his eyes downcast, nervous about what I would do next. Then the numbness slipped away, and the full weight of what I had just done came smashing down on my head. _Oh...CRAP! Did I…Did I just __kiss__ Embry?! Oh my…What would possess me to do th- Oh yeah. Chris._ I moaned quietly and crashed backwards onto my bed, nearly smacking my head on the wall.

"Hey…Adam. Would you mind explaining…_that_, back there?" He said awkwardly, waving back towards the door as he sat down next to me. He didn't sound disgusted, just really nervous, which as much better than I had been expecting. The blood was still rushing all through my face though, and I was willing to bet that a tomato had never looked so red.

"Uh…not really…I'm sorry. Um it was…Man, I don't even have a very good excuse!" I moaned quietly, my brain still throbbing from the realization that I had _kissed_ Embry. I shivered as that though once again flooded my mind unpleasantly. "Well, how about start from the beginning? What made you decide to even think about…kissing me?" Embry stuttered over the words, but he was trying to be really supportive, not judgmental.

I didn't decide to spill everything, it just sort of happened. Not like word vomit though, more like I just couldn't keep yet another secret. "Well, it kinda started with this guy…Chris. Over the summer he went on vacation, so I didn't get to talk to him much. Now, he is like, my best friend, so it was really surprising when he came back and…" I cut off there, not wanting to out my best friend, even to the guy that I would die for.

"And…what happened next? Unless it is irrelevant, then just skip it." He said awkwardly, not wanting to pry into the life of a guy he had never even heard about. I went on to explain anyways, feeling even more awkward than I had thought was humanly possible. "Well, we were changing for P.E. and I stepped out to go to the bathroom when…I saw him. He was…kissing Tyler, a new guy in school.

"I just stood there, completely stunned that I had just discovered that my best friend was gay. I don't really have a problem with it; it was just…really shocking.

"So, he saw me staring, and started laughing and said, 'Well, I guess I've got some explaining to do.' He explained everything that had happened over the summer, which really is irrelevant at this point." I said, not wanting to reveal more than I already had. _I hope Chris never finds out that I outed him._ I thought before going on to explain the rest.

"So, we talked, and he brought up the point that he had never seen me take interest in a girl. I tried to think back to prove him wrong, but I couldn't; I've never had a crush before. He then asked me if I was secretly gay, what with living with 'A gorgeous Greek-god of a guy.'" I shuddered at the quote, not liking how Chris thought of Embry.

"Well, I am hot, aren't I?" Embry asked, a small smile on his face. It was reassuring that he could still joke right now. "So, anyways, we had like, fifty-thousand discussions after that, where he would try to figure out what my preference was. He didn't get anything though, because I didn't _know._

"That's why I…kissed you; I was trying to figure it out. I mean, I've never had a crush on anyone, so I decided to experiment a little. Yesterday, I kissed Ara, this one really good looking girl in school. I didn't feel anything that I should have, so I figured, 'Maybe I really am gay?' Then came today, and you know what happened after that." I stopped there, having finished the whole story. I was hoping that he would just leave it alone, and not think I was a nasty piece of crap for basically mauling the guy who had practically raised me.

"Well…Do you want to be…gay…with me?" He asked, causing me to unconsciously turn towards him in short, jerky bursts. _Did he just…Offer to be my boyfriend?_ I stared at him, not sure how I was supposed to make my mouth work.

**Embry POV**

I was feeling really confused at the moment, but all I could feel was the imprint bond telling me to do whatever made him happy. At that moment, it felt like it was pulling for me to…be his _boyfriend_. I shuddered inwardly at the thought, but couldn't help feeling that I wouldn't mind if it was what he wanted. _Stupid imprinting._ I though before I asked the deadly question.

"Well…Do you want to be…gay…with me?" There, I said it; I got the question that would decide if I was gay or not. In reality, there wasn't a choice; if he wanted to be gay, I would do it, regardless of how wrong I had always felt that it was. _Stupid imprint._ I though again while I awaited his response. Another thought passed through my head at that moment, a question I wanted answered before he made me his boyfriend. "Hey, can I ask you something first? Why did you decide to kiss me, and not Chris? You already knew that he was gay."

Adam snapped out of the stupor that my offer had put him in, his eyes focusing back on the wall. "Oh…well…a few reasons. First, since I haven't really ever liked guys or girls, I think that I can judge their physical appearance pretty equally. As Chris stated, you are…pretty good looking." He shuddered again as he said that, the thought obviously making him somewhat uncomfortable. "The second reason, I look around at Emily and Sam, Rachel and Paul, Nessie and Jake, and I see that they're all happy, and they're all imprints. Well, you imprinted on me, so I figure that if I'm going to be gay, it might as well be with the guy who's supposed to be my soul-mate, or something." He shrugged at that part. It made me feel a little better, knowing his logic behind it, knowing that it wasn't just some completely random thing.

Then I remembered my original question, that I still wanted the answer to; I wanted to know the fate of my sexuality before dinner. "So? Are we going to…be boyfriends now, or something?" Adam shook his head quickly, clearing his thoughts out again, before answering. "No. Honestly, I felt even weirder kissing you than I did kissing Ara. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that I'm just never going to have a romantic relationship with anyone, guy or girl.

"Thanks for helping me figure this out, Embry, and being so cool about it. I do have one question though." He said, his eyebrows pulling down yet again.

"Okay, shoot kid." I said lightly, hoping to keep the atmosphere from getting too serious again.

"Why did you offer to be my boyfriend? I know that I haven't seen you with any girls, but I haven't seen you with any guys either. From what I have heard from the other pack guys, you're totally straight, flirting with anything with breasts. At least, before you imprinted." He added that last part on quietly, as though he had just answered his own question. _Time to confirm his thoughts._ I thought solemnly, not enjoying the fact that we would have to be at least a little serious again.

"Yes, it's because I imprinted. No one knows why we imprint, especially since I imprinted on you, but we do know that once we do, the only thing that we need to survive is for our imprint to be happy and safe. That is why I trained you so well when you were younger, so that you could be safe, and why I would get you pretty much anything you wanted, within reason. It's why I would put you before any other commitments that I had, and…why I would be gay for you. I may not necessarily want to be gay, but if because of the imprinting, if it would make you happy then I would. I would be happy with it, because you were.

"I'm going to add that I'm glad that you're not deciding to be gay, just because I've gone my whole life thinking I'm straight, and I wouldn't really like to turn myself into a liar." I threw that in just to lighten the situation marginally; it worked. Adam smirked before looking back down at the floor. "Time for the signature chick-flick hug." I said, wrapping my arm around his shoulder loosely. He hugged me back and then pulled back to make another lame comment, further throwing us out of the mood. "You know, as much as I love the girl talk," he said while rolling his eyes, "It kind of sucks that we need to have them to get anything serious said. What does that say about us guys? I mean, come on! Reduced to soap-opera scenes whenever something major happens!"

"Hey, that's life. That's why they have to gay shows, like the OC and Gossip Girl, because of all the chick-flicky stuff that happens in real life. They just blow it out of proportion." We left his room to go and sit on the couch, to put in a movie or TV show. "Supernatural?" I asked, holding up the last disc of the second season. "Yeah! Dude, Sam just had to kill Madison, and we're only like, four episodes from the end of the season! We gotta see what happens!" I chuckled at his enthusiasm as I put it in.

I dropped down onto the couch as he turned sideways to throw his legs up over the arm of the couch, leaning back into my side like always. "Thanks for being so cool, Embry." He said again as the recap of their journey began. "Shut up and watch!" I scolded falsely, smiling while I dropped my arm around him, settling in for out typical four-hour-long Friday-night marathon.

**Alright, I know that I said no gay stuff at all, but come on, two guys imprinted, there's going to be a little bit of exploration! Trust me, from this point on there will be no more gay stuff, it will return to the other issues that Adam has going on. There are only like, one or two more chapters, so it's going to get really intense(ideally) at the end of the next chapter.**

**Please don't hate me for putting in some gay when i said I wouldn't, review and tell me what you thought.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I use quite a bit of Latin here. I have all of the translations down at the bottom, so if you ever care enough to know the wordings, they are down there. For those who actually know Latin, sorry for butchering the translations.**

**Chapter 6**

**Death is to be Feared.**

**Adam POV**

_Well, I finally got to kill a vampire without the help of magic…sort of. About two years ago, I learned how to shape shift, so I became a wolf to go on patrols with Embry. It feels good to be out there watching for vamps, instead of just waiting at home worrying. Jeez, I sound like a girl! Oh well, that's what I did, and no one can read this so…I'm safe._

I was writing halfway through my second journal, having finished the first one two years ago. I had also learned a spell that can hide words, so I did not even have to worry about anyone reading my stuff. I continued writing, thinking back to my nineteenth birthday, when I shifted for the first time.

_It was really fun, learning the ropes with Embry as my tutor. The only problem is that I can't use much magic as a wolf, since I can't talk. That's okay though, I can at least back him up if he gets into a scrape. Ha-ha, I remember that from the time I was fourteen, I would scry on him until like, midnight every night, just to make sure that he was okay. Well, no more of that, we are always on patrols together, so no babysitting is necessary!_

_It really peeves me off that Sam doesn't think I'm capable of taking care of myself. I mean, I'm freaking 21, and I've been able to kick adult's butts since I was 8! Plus I killed a vampire, of course no one knows how… but still! Sometimes I'm tempted to do a spell that would make him trust me more, or make a demon possess him to make him stop treating me like a kid. I would never do that though, because if Embry ever found out, he'd kill me._

_Okay no, he wouldn't, but he would be really offended that I hadn't told him sooner._

I closed the book, reciting the spell that would keep it clean from other's eyes, with my hand placed on the cover. "Avoco obtutus of alius quisnam vultus hic." I no longer needed to think about the translation; Latin had become extremely easy after I turned fifteen.

I retraced the Devil's Trap that I had drawn on the cover, in liquid gold, reaffirming the seal that would keep any stray demons from looking into my personal life. Of course, the hex-bags that I had placed in the walls of the house made it all but invisible to anything that wasn't a Quileute or human; demons and vampires –minus the Cullens –included.

I shrugged out of my shirt and walked to the front room, waiting for Embry to wake up from his nap for patrol. I could shift with clothing, but there was no need to make anyone suspicious. Embry walked out two minutes later, yawning hugely. "Ready to go Sleeping Beauty?" I asked sarcastically, using yet another of the Disney princess names that I gave him. "Sure thing Short stuff." He replied, walking out the front door. Unfortunately, my wolf was much smaller than any of the other guys'. It was still larger than any natural wolf could ever hope to be, and I was still tough enough to take out a vampire alone, but I was the weakest of the pack. My telekinesis was still intact as a wolf, making up for my size and strength.

We jogged out to the woods together, shifting and sprinting off in tandem. As we ran side-by-side, I bitterly noticed, once again, that my head only cleared halfway up Embry's shoulder; making my head around five feet tall.

As we ran, we joked and sniffed around for vampires, or other non-human scents. I was just returning full circle to Embry when I did a nose dive into the ground, only to be dragged back through the mud against a tree._ Embry! Help, something's got me, and I can't see!_ I could feel the presence of the creature, but I had not felt any hands grab me when I was thrown. I could smell sulfur, which was a very disturbing thing. _Why is there sulfur there, Adam? Are you okay? _Embry could still hear my thoughts, so I had to keep myself from thinking about magic. _Yeah, I'm okay, Em. Just hurry and get here, I don't know what this thing is doing._

The creature had just left me there, pinning me between the ground and a large tree, with no hands holding me. I struggled uselessly, finally recognizing the work of a demon. _Embry, run and grab Sam! Hurry, this thing will kill you if you come any closer, go!_ I screamed at him, trying to not reveal how I knew this while still giving him enough information to know that I knew what I was talking about.

Before I could catch his reply, I was flipped onto my back and my eyes were forced open. I stared up into the eyes of a vampire. His eyes were entirely black, instead of the typical red iris, alerting me to the fact that this demon had taken a more powerful host.

I focused my entire being on the vampire's body, hurling him away from me and releasing me from the ground. I jumped to my feet, only to be punched so hard that I felt my jaw splinter as I crashed back into another tree. _Adam!_ Embry exclaimed, pushing himself even harder, completely ignoring my command to get Sam. _Embry, I'll be fine, but you HAVE to go and get Sam! Now, or it will be too late!_

_I'm not leaving you here to deal with a psychic vampire, stupid!_ He yelled back, still charging towards my location. The vampire's chuckle brought me back to my predicament of being pinned to a tree, once again. "I don't think that's a very good idea, sending your little wolf mate away. We wouldn't want him to lose out on all of the fun, would we?" He said cruelly, an evil smile marring his face.

I could hear Embry's footfalls now, too close to retreat any further. I tried to shift back to human form to use magic against the demon, but he was holding me in my wolf form. I tried throwing him away again, but he was ready for it this time, merely being nudged slightly. I swore as Embry exploded into the clearing, lunging towards the vampire whose back was still turned to him.

The demon-vampire lifted his hand lazily, halting Embry's flight through the air, and then flicked his hand, sending him crashing into another tree, nearly breaking it with the force. _Embry! _I shouted, unable to sense his mind anymore. He was unconscious, and unable to get help for either of us.

"You, my boy, have been a heavy nuisance in the demon world. Summoning us like butlers, only to send us back to Hell; and with what? Just a few years of your life! What good are those years when you can just cast a little spell to add a thousand more?" The vampire's voice had risen from dark humor to flat out rage by the end of his mini-rant.

"I am going to tear you limb from limb, gutting you in the process, and then feed your organs to you before I let you die. Or, even better! I'll bite you, and turn you into the thing that you have been killing for the past nine years! What will precious little Embry think of you then?" He mocked, his face still distorted into an ugly mask of rage.

I kept my cool, keeping my thought voice –that I knew he could hear –cool. _So, which leader of the underworld sent you to recruit me tonight? Asmodean? Belial?_

"Lilith." He replied, sending a cold spike of fear down my spine. Asmodean and Belial had attempted to recruit me to their horde in the past, but they were collectors. Lilith was a destroyer. She was the first demon that could move from Hell, and she took no prisoners. If she sent after someone on Earth, it was because she wanted them dead. "So now you understand your predicament." He said cockily, turning back to look at the still-unconscious Embry.

"You know, I was sent here to kill you, but I don't think that I will." He said, a smile on his face as he turned back to me. I held my breath as I waited for the 'but' that I knew would come. I nearly suffocated for real as he said, "I'm going to let him do it." As he pointed towards Embry. His head snapped up to the sky at that, deep black smoke exploding from the vampire's mouth.

I was released as the smoke sailed towards Embry, so I shifted and began to speak in Latin as quickly as I could to bind the demon. "Subsisto everto ex ingressus alius somes quod iacio him tergum ut Abyssus!" I cried, throwing my hand out to slow the smoke, but my spell fell on deaf ears, and faint glow around the smoke the only sign that it even been spoken out loud.

Embry's body arched painfully as the smoke entered his mouth, pulling him up onto his feet as the demon took control of his now-human body. I blasted the earth around him with all of the telekinetic energy I could, carving the most powerful Devil's Trap around him that I knew of. The seal was completed the instant Embry stood on his own, rather than lifted by the smoke. His eyes were the evil black of a demon, his smile a cruel mockery of the man I knew.

My eyes watered briefly as I thought of what had happened just then, the person I was trying to protect from these creatures enslaved by one. My mind raged as I thought of the most powerful exorcism I knew, the words slipping through my mouth without any conscious commands. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas,"

The demon's cruel laughter rang out through the trees as I spoke, mocking my attempts to save Embry. "Omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica." I continued, ignoring the awful feeling in my stomach that it would be futile. It was the most powerful exorcism ever made, not even requiring other materials; it had to work!

"Boy, you should wait and see what I do to this man if you keep up with that chatter." I looked up at the threat, noticing that the demon was holding a very sharp branch to Embry's throat. The words of power died in my throat. "Now, this little stick won't do anything to me, but it will bleed your precious puppy dry, and the instant I leave his body, his spirit won't live here anymore." He smiled another cruel smile at me, knowing that he had won this round.

I wasn't going to give in that easily. "Expulsum totus wood ex is area." I said quietly as I drew the pentagram from the bottom-left corner in the air. A blinding flash of light interrupted the dark of the night, and when it cleared, we stood in an empty patch of forest, the nearest fleck of wood more than half a mile away; including the piece that the demon was threatening Embry with. "Hm…Resourceful. You really are a pain in my butt, you know that? Lilith told me that this job would be easy, that you were a mediocre wizard dabbling in things you could never fully understand."

I snapped then, as he was beginning to scratch deep cuts into Embry's arm as he spoke. I hurled out my hand and smashed him to the ground, spread-eagled, within the Devil's Trap. He smiled up at me, as though he were still the one in control. "I'm going to kill you. Forget about Hell, you will never see it again." I said darkly, the words barely making a sound as they left my lips. My mind had entered a dark part of the book that I had never looked at longer than to see what it held.

"Purveyor of Nex a Messor EGO postulo, obtempero meus prex EGO voco thee." The wind suddenly howled through the clearing as I spoke, the dark spell taking effect. "Ex niger of vorago, adveho meus prex, ut tribuo unto unus suum denique basium." The light from the moon began to fade, bathing everything in differing strengths of black. "Victus , sanctus , malum vel mortuus , nusquam reluctor quietus cubile." Embry had ceased his taunting, fear the only emotion remaining on his face. The demon inside of him knew that he would not be escaping back to Hell to be released later for another job.

I shivered as I felt the presence of the Messenger of Death behind me; its cold essence leeching any happy feelings from the world, leaving only a dead coldness in its wake.

**Here are the English translations of the Latin that is used here. **

**Avoco obtutus of alius quisnam vultus hic---Divert the gaze of others who look here.**

**Purveyor of Nex a Messor EGO postulo , obtempero meus prex EGO voco thee. Ex niger of vorago , adveho meus prex , ut tribuo unto unus suum denique basium. Victus , sanctus , malum vel mortuus , nusquam reluctor quietus cubile. ---Purveyor of Death a Reaper I need, to obey my request I summon thee. From the black of the abyss, comes my request, to give unto one their final kiss. Living, holy, evil or dead, nothing resists the resting bed.**

**Subsisto everto ex ingressus alius somes quod iacio him tergum ut Abyssus---Stop the demon from entering another body and cast him back to Hell**

**Expulsum totus wood ex is area---Expel the wood from this area.**

**The exorcism that I used(partially) is from this website, used in the show Supernatural.  
.com/question/index?qid=20080731190905AAFfL2j**


	7. Chapter 7

**alright, last chapter is up! Thanks for reading everyone who has!**

**Chapter 7**

**Until Death Do Us Part Has Nothing on This.**

Goosebumps raised on my arms and neck as the icy breath of the Reaper brushed across my skin. My mind scrambled numbly for something to offer the Reaper in return for sparing my life. They absolutely detested being summoned and controlled, and I was doing just that: summoning and controlling one. I sent my mind running as I felt the impartial King of Death begin to steal away my life in impatience. "Attero everto ut commoror ut somes , tamen licentia humanus animus intus sospes. Rursus , EGO mos relinquish immortalis ut specto mihi." I told the presence, offering the only thing I knew that I could give without Embry killing me himself.

I felt the ice of the Reaper slide through me, an acceptance of my offer, as it moved to kill the demon. Embry's eyes were wide with terror, the demon within able to see the Reaper's movements; I was grateful that I was blind to the Reaper's visage, because based on the demon's face, it was nothing pretty.

I fell to my knees as a dim light began to grow within Embry, illuminating his black eyes and mouth. As the Reaper grew nearer, the demon attempted to flee, black smoke streaming from Embry's upraised face. The smoke was trapped within the Devil's Trap however, and it began to spiral wildly, attempting to break free. I almost felt sorry for it as a tiny tendril of flame caught at the base of the smoke, rapidly consuming the demon. I stared in awe as the fire burned, destroying smoke instead of creating it.

The moment the last of the smoke was burned away, I felt a cold hand reach inside of me, gripping my heart in its steely grasp. _Instante immortalis suscitatio intus vos , Nex vadum vindicatum vos._ I shivered as the Reaper's voice reminded me of the deal, speaking directly to my soul. I felt the cold ebb from my body, leaving the clearing entirely as it took the demon to the void that it would now inhabit, and sucked in a deep breath.

I scrambled over to Embry's still body on the ground, breathing heavily, scraping hands and knees in my haste. "Embry…Em, come on, wake up!" I said, slapping him lightly. Impatience grew on me, and I decided to call back out the magic that had been running like adrenalin through my veins. "EGO to order vos ut excito ex is dormio."

Embry's eyes shot open as a deep cough wracked its way up through his throat. He looked up at me, his eyes blurry and unfocused as his mouth worked like a fish-out-of-water. "Unda." I said briefly, a small ball of water blinking into existence and growing above my hand. I held it to Embry's lips, allowing the cool liquid to slide down his throat, guiding it with my mind so that he did not choke.

"Ugh," he muttered once the water was finished, sitting up slowly, "Thanks, Adam. I guess that I…should have listened to you…when you said to get help." I just shook my head, hoping that he decided to avoid the topic of my magic. No such luck.

"So, that was a demon, huh? I had been wondering what you were talking about those few times we were shifted. I would catch you thinking about demons, or some spell or other, every now and then." I blanched at this, having had no clue that he was on to me.

"I…I…I'm sorry, Embry." I muttered brokenly, feeling extremely guilty now that my secret was out. "I should…I should have told you a long time ago. Please forgive me, and please, please don't be mad. I will do whatever you want, just please, please forgive me." I was on the verge of tears, fearing that the person that I loved more than life itself would turn from me now that he knew of my dark little secret. I had been ready to do a headstand and summon up a mansion, so his next words threw me for a loop.

"So, is that how you survived that vampire attack when you were twelve? I guess that I can't be too mad, since it did save your life." I stared at him, the tears frozen in my eyes. _He's not even going to yell at me for playing with dark magic? Didn't he see what I just did?_ I looked into his eyes, and found nothing but sincerity in their depths. _He's not mad!_ I broke into a huge smile as I tackled him into the biggest hug I had ever given anyone. "Thank you, Embry! I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you. I promise never to do it again."

We remained in that position for several minutes, Embry recovering from being possessed, me crying out my tears that Embry had forgiven me without even making me feel guilty. I helped him to his feet; relying on my telekinesis heavily. Even though I did not need to touch him to hold him up, I remained in close contact, enjoying the presence of my still-living Embry.

I turned to look at the source of a rustling sound behind us. I was about to utter another spell when suddenly I was hurtling through the air, grasped by the vampire that had been previously inhabited by the demon. I was pushing against it with all of my telekinetic might, but that merely stopped it from biting at me, pushing against my force like it was holding onto life. "Adam!" Embry screamed as he fell to the ground, too weak still to support himself.

We collided into a tree as I began drawing the pentagram from the bottom-left corner, to cast the creature away from me. I continued to draw a circle around it to increase the length of the spell, adding a blended 'L' and 'P' to make Pluto's sign, a sign of death. I pressed my palm against the symbols, smacking the vampire's chest, and he was blasted away from me with nuclear force.

Not before his hand slashed into my neck, however. I collapsed to the ground, feeling the blood pour from my wound. "Subsisto." I muttered breathlessly, ceasing the flow of blood. I was unable to breathe, gasping on the ground with a gash in my neck, trying to bleed out my life. "deleo meus postulo pro aer." I whispered, using up the last of my air. I immediately felt the pressure on my lungs vanish, the need for air disappearing from my dying body.

**Embry POV**

I saw Adam crash to the ground, blood spilling from his throat, as the vampire was hurtled through the air. I crawled as fast as I could over to my imprint, terrified that he was already dead; no one could survive more than a few seconds with a slit throat. "…pro aer" I heard him whisper quietly. I gasped out a sigh of relief in response, thinking _He's still alive!_

I crashed next to him as he fell to the ground, his face pressing into the dirt. I lifted the boy weakly into my arms, careful of his slit-but-not-bleeding throat. His eyes were hazy and unfocused, but I could feel that he was still alive. "Hey, Adam, you're okay, buddy. You're going to be fine!" I crooned brokenly, knowing that it would not turn out that way. "Adam, come on, you're a wizard! You can't die on me, use…some of your mojo…to save yourself!" tears were pouring down my face as I spoke the dying boy in my arms, begging him to save himself. He lifted his fingers up and touched my face, and I could suddenly hear his thoughts. _I'm sorry, Embry…I can't. I gave up my immortality when I saved you, and saving myself now would count as invoking immortality. It's…my time to go…Embry._ I could feel his thoughts growing heavy, knowing that communication was impossible any other way already.

"No, Adam, you can't die! Please, don't leave me. I need you Adam, don't go. Please." I was whispering by now, knowing that my please were falling on nearly deaf ears. _I'm so, so sorry, Embry. Please…don't cry too hard. You are a tough kid…You will be fine._ The words pounded in my skull, throbbing like a thousand cars smashing into me at the same time.

Adam's heartbeats were already fading, growing weaker and farther in between. Blood was slowly beginning to leak from the wound on his neck, indicating that whatever he had used to stop it was fading. "Please, Adam. I love you, you can't…can't go!" I was clutching him to my chest for all I was worth, probably breaking several bones; he didn't care, he probably couldn't feel them anyways. This thought sent another wracking sob through my body as more tears exploded from my eyes.

_I…love you…too, Embry. I'll…I'll see you…lat- "_Adam, don't say that! You can't die, I can't live without you. It feels like…like I'm going to be…smashed into dust…if you go. You can't die, Adam. I need you. Please." I was sobbing hysterically by now, knowing that he was slipping through my fingers, and there was nothing that I could do about it. _I'm sorry…Embry. Thank you for…saving me…You're the best…thing that has ever…happened to me._ His blood was flowing relatively quickly now, the last of his strength being used to say his parting words.

_I love you, Embry…I'm going to miss you. I'm so glad that…you imprinted on me…Thank you for…everything._ Adam's body slumped lifelessly in my arms after that last word, the blood pulsing from his throat now that the spell was entirely gone.

I screamed into the night, my wordless yell turning into a howl as I shifted unconsciously. My emotions were too much for my human body to handle, so it took the easy way out; only it wasn't any easier. A dead imprint was a dead other half, rendering the living half completely useless. I screamed my anguish to the heavens, collapsing back to the ground when my legs gave out seconds later. I pressed my head against the dead boy at my feet, drenching his body with my tears.

The others had heard my howls and had come to get me, but none of them could get close. I would lash out and attack furiously anyone who dared to come within snapping distance of me. I remained there for as long as I can remember, Adam laying dead under me while everything that was me slipped into the void, following him into death.

****

Adam's funeral was today; I didn't care. It had been two weeks since Adam died; I didn't care. I hadn't eaten anything that wasn't forced on me; I didn't care. I hadn't taken a shower before today; I couldn't have cared less. For the other guys, I guess it's a good thing that we didn't care about seeing each other naked, because they had to force me into the water to get ready for the funeral. Afterwards, I got myself dried and dressed, but then I just collapsed back onto the couch.

"Embry, man, come on! You gotta get up! At least get up to go to the funeral, pay the last respects." Quil had made me move in with him after Adam died, so that I wouldn't do anything stupid, and he had been begging me over and over again to do things, forcing me to do them in the end.

I heard his words, but they just passed through my ears, skipping right over my brain. I hadn't had a conscious thought in two weeks, and I didn't care. I stood up and walked out to the car, sitting in the passenger seat while Quil drove us to the funeral. He had to drag me out of the car to the gravesite.

The priest said the final rites over the coffin, and then allowed us all to go up to say parting words to Adam, or just cry silently into his coffin. I went up last, standing there for the longest time to whisper into his cold ear, "I'll see you soon, bud." I then turned to walk away while they lowered him into the ground and began filling in the hole.

Back at the house, I didn't even bother with my tux, just dropped onto the couch to wait for Quil. He would understand better than anyone else; he was my best friend before Adam. He walked through the door and took in the sight before him; me sitting upright on the couch, a determined look in my eyes. "Embry…What are you going to do? You had better not do anything stupid! You know that you have people here who care about you, who would miss you should you do anything dumb!" he had charged forward to get right up in my face, grabbing my collar for effect.

I stared him down, my eyes completely emotionless except for the determination that scared him so much. "Is this what people want to hang out with, Quil? Is this something that anyone is going to miss? This dead, walking corpse that they used to call their friend?" I spoke numbly, as I pointed to myself, no emotion coming through at all, but still more than I had used in the past week. "Quil, what would you do if Claire died, was killed by a vampire saving you? What if you knew that there was a way that you could still be with her, even after she died?" I stopped speaking as Quil's gaze dropped to the floor.

"I would do all that I could to meet up with her again." His voice was completely defeated, unable to argue against me anymore. He had lost his only argument after I pulled the imprint card. "Don't worry, Quil, there won't be any mess for anyone to clean up. It's not going to hurt at all, and the only thing that will be out of place is a little black book on the floor next to me.

"I wrote a note the day Adam died, after I figured out how I could follow him, and be with him. It explains everything, and I want you to read it out to everyone who cared about me before I died two weeks ago." He just nodded brokenly, small tears leaking down onto the floor. "Thanks, bud. I'll be done in about an hour, by then it should be safe." I walked out the door then, leaving my last remaining friend, my last link to this life, behind.

I stepped into my house fifteen minutes later for the first time in just under two weeks. I walked into Adam's room and grabbed the black book, that I had found in his closet, from the top of his bed. I opened it to an ear-marked page that I had searched for desperately, dying for a way to follow Adam.

"Purveyor of Nex a Messor EGO postulo , obtempero meus prex EGO voco thee. Ex niger of vorago , adveho meus prex , ut tribuo unto unus suum denique basium. Victus , sanctus , malum vel mortuus , nusquam reluctor quietus cubile." The lights in the house flickered and died, the clocks on the walls freezing at their current time. I felt the dead cold behind me that let me know my spell had worked. I had researched and written down the script that I would use, and I had read that if commanded, the Reaper could speak in English, or any other language. "Narro in English pro meus ears unus , quod pareo meus to order orator huic lingua." I felt the silent nod as it obeyed my first command. _As you wish._ I smiled grimly and began the second part of my request. "You will tell me, what lies beyond the veil of death." I felt it trembling beneath the command, dying –no pun intended –for its gift in return. "Trust me, you'll get a gift in return. Now tell me, will I see Adam again after I pass through Death?"

The cold wavered as it struggled to decide if it would answer my question. _If that is what you would like, then yes, you will be with Adam again. I cannot tell you what lies beyond, except peace. You will no longer feel the pains of this world, and depending on how you have lived, you will be happy. You will see your boy again, regardless._ Its words were spiteful, not liking being bossed around by a mortal playing at magic; which is exactly what I was doing, playing at magic.

I nodded in response to his answer, deciding finally on my last request. My voice was hopeful as I spoke, the first emotion I had felt in two weeks. "Take me to Adam. Your gift is my life, as long as you fulfill your promise that I can be with Adam again." I closed my eyes and awaited the cold that I knew would come; I had felt it once as Adam passed on.

_So you have requested, so shall it be done._ The Reaper was pleased at my gift, and I opened my eyes as I felt it move in front of me. I remembered the terror of the demon that inhabited my body as it died, and so I was shocked when I glanced upon the Reaper that was only visible when it was there for you. I stared at a woman, around the age of twenty-four. She had long black hair pulled away from her face, and her complexion was smooth and pure. She wore a gentle smile as she stepped forward to receive me. _Adam will be happy, Embry._ She said softly. Her arms wrapped around me and I could feel myself fading fast. My eyes closed as I felt the cold slide from my body, slipping into warmth as I passed beyond Earth to the next realm.

**Quil POV**

Sam was mad, to say the least. He nearly killed me before he could get himself under control, after I told him about Embry. Seth was there, and he was extremely quiet. I went to ask him if he was okay and he merely nodding and said, "I get why he did it. I hate him for it, but I can't hold it against him. I'm just going to miss who he was a few weeks ago, but I guess that Embry died before today. It was just a bit of buffer space for us to get used to it." A tear slid down his cheek as he spoke, understanding more than Embry had planned for even me to.

An hour later, the entire pack was gathered in Sam's house to discuss what had happened. I pulled out the note that Embry had left, and began to read in the silence that had fallen over everyone.

_Dear pack, mom, and anyone else who cares,_

_I'm really sorry for doing this, but I can't live like this, and I know that you guys will hate me after a few weeks, if you don't already. I'm going to follow Adam, and I have found out how to do it perfectly.  
Adam was a wizard, a user of magic. That is how he killed that vampire when he was twelve, and how he saved my life yesterday. I found a black book in his closet, and it was written entirely in Latin, but it had a lot of funky diagrams. I found a page in the back of his book with the written form of the words that he used to kill the demon, which had possessed me, with. I looked it up online, and found out that it was a Reaper summoning. Yes, the Grim Reaper. He would obey your will if you gave him a suitable present, and Adam gave it his immortality, that he would have gained in time, to kill the demon.  
This is how I plan to follow him, by summoning the Reaper. I have already worked it all out, and I am going to do it right after the funeral in two weeks; if I make it that long. I feel dead already, and dying is looking more and more appealing if I can be with Adam again.  
I know that many of you won't know how I feel, but for those of you who have imprinted, if your imprint died, wouldn't you do anything you could to be with them again? This is better than the Necromancy spell I found, which would bring him back, but he would be evil. I figure that it's better for me to go, than to bring him back killing people.  
Don't hate me forever, or do, it's up to you guys. I really am sorry for this, I just want to thank you all for being the best family and friends that I've ever had. I love you all, and hope that you don't miss me too badly._

_Embry_

Embry's letter had everyone crying, at least a little bit. Seth, Jake and I cried the most, because he was our best friend. I spent the next five minutes praying that I would never have to find out what lay beyond death, because the only thing that would get me there, was Claire dying, and that was unthinkable.

Another grave was dug right next to Adam's, even sharing the same plot space. Their headstones were side-by-side, like the two boys had been for the past seventeen years, except for rare occasions. Embry's coffin was lowered right next to Adam's, two identical boxes resting together. Two halves to one whole, remaining together for eternity.

The end.

**Attero everto ut commoror ut somes , tamen licentia humanus animus intus sospes. Rursus , EGO mos relinquish immortalis ut specto mihi.--- Destroy the demon that inhabits that body, but leave the human soul within unharmed. In return, I will relinquish the immortality that awaits me.**

**Instante immortalis suscitatio intus vos , Nex vadum vindicatum vos.---** **The instant immortality awakens within you, Death shall claim you.**

**EGO to order vos ut excito ex is dormio---I command you to awaken from this slumber.**

**Narro in English pro meus ears unus , quod pareo meus to order orator huic lingua.---** **Speak in English for my ears alone, and obey my commands spoken in this tongue.**

**Kay, tell me what everyone thinks. I have never written something this depressing before, so I don't know if it is any good. Please review and tell me your thoughts, give advice on what i can maybe fix, etc. Again, sorry for the Latin, I got it from an online translator, so I don't know if it's right. If anyone legitimately speaks Latin, be sure to tell me what the proper stuff is.**

**Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out my other stuff! (none of it is quite this depressing)**


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